The decision to market Prometheus as a 'stand alone' film was a good move IMO. In doing that, I believe Ridley has shed himself of the shackles with the box office driven franchise the Alien movies had become.

I know Ridley has made some real duds of late, but fingers crossed he goes easy on the CGI, and instead ramps up the set and production design, and we get a movie that will end up standing alongside Ridley's 1979 original and James Cameron's 1986 sequel, Aliens.

Teamed with the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises, I dont think I have ever been this excited about an upcoming new year in cinema.

The decision to market Prometheus as a 'stand alone' film was a good move IMO. In doing that, I believe Ridley has shed himself of the shackles with the box office driven franchise the Alien movies had become.

I know Ridley has made some real duds of late, but fingers crossed he goes easy on the CGI, and instead ramps up the set and production design, and we get a movie that will end up standing alongside Ridley's 1979 original and James Cameron's 1986 sequel, Aliens.

Teamed with the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises, I dont think I have ever been this excited about an upcoming new year in cinema.

Reading the synopsis it sounds like the prequel to Alien. Looks like they've finally decided that the aliens are a genetically engineered bio weapon, or the result of that weapon's misuse. I would really like to know which.

The space jockey was the big humanoid alien they found in that alien ship with its ribcage perforated. I don't like the idea of the space jockeys being the bad guys, particularly THE jockey in the first film. It doesn't fit with the fact that he used a warning beacon to try and keep people away from the aliens.

I don't like the idea of the space jockeys being the bad guys, particularly THE jockey in the first film. It doesn't fit with the fact that he used a warning beacon to try and keep people away from the aliens.

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Yeah ive thought about that one as well. And if we have thought of it, then you would hope that Ridley and Lindelof have also thought of it.

It is something that will have to be dealt with im afraid.

Given its central importance to the original's story, it's not as though they can just pretend that it didnt happen.

Things get even more complex when you factor in the 2003 directors cut re-release of Alien which included a reinserted scene featuring the crew of the Nostromo listening to the Beacon, with the suggestion made that is was a 'voice'.

Im guessing that when Prometheus finally hits the screen, given how little was actually revealed about it in Alien, we will end up being shown there was a fair bit more going on with the warning beacon.

Going on the leaked images (full size spot on recreations of the original space jockey and egg chamber sets etc), it's looking for all the world like a full blown Ridley directed Alien prequel.

The thing thats most exciting about it, is the way that whilst being so obviously connected to Alien, it also appears to be trying to say something new and original and be its own movie, rather than just some cynical, nostalgic cash grab.

The fact its being filmed (rather than transferred) in 3D is also massively intriguing for anyone who still remembers the original thrill of seeing Avatar.

Will be fascinating to see what a visual auteur like Ridley can do with the technology.

Argh I didn't know it was being filmed in 3D. Not a fan of it at all. I'll admit some of Avatar looked amazing but most of the time it was just annoying.

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Really?

The first time I saw Avatar I was completely blown away.

The movie itself was garbage, but the 3D....my initial thought was this is likely the beginning of the most profound quantum leap in film making since the advent of sound.

Unfortunately in the wake of Avatar, we saw a whole swag load of rubbish trying to cash in....all with shite looking post production add in 3D conversions (ala Clash of The Titans).

I can understand people being cynical because of the amount of rubbish conversions and accompanying blatant box office price gouging we have seen, but if its done properly ala Avatar, the potential upside of 3D technology is absolutely massive IMO.

Prometheus is being tipped as a prequel to Alien, but Rothman also played down that kind of speculation: "I suppose [it is a prequel] if you want to definitionally be that literal, but it does a great disservice. If you looked at the whole movie, 95% of it is entirely unto itself. Ridley said it right: If you’re a fan and you look closely, you'll spot strands of DNA."

He elaborated: "I'll tell you the great thing: It's way bigger than that. The ideas are way bigger, more original and - it's a scary word - way more profound."